Slackware users can compile and install Emacs 24 by using the following unofficial SlackBuild script: [http://github.com/cycojesus/slackbuilds/tree/master/e/emacs emacs.SlackBuild].

Unfortunately they don't seem to be any prebuilt Emacs 24 packages for any of the RPM distros (Fedora, SUSE, Mandriva, etc). Since, I’m Debian user I have to admit that I didn’t look that far, but the source installation is not particularly hard and is always an option.

Unfortunately they don't seem to be any prebuilt Emacs 24 packages for any of the RPM distros (Fedora, SUSE, Mandriva, etc). Since, I’m Debian user I have to admit that I didn’t look that far, but the source installation is not particularly hard and is always an option.

The second step is optional, but it’s recommended if you like to start Emacs from the launchpad or from Spotlight.

Chances are good you have an older version of Emacs installed by default with OS X. It's suggested you to remove that older Emacs version to avoid conflicts with the new one. Do this:

$ sudo rm /usr/bin/emacs
$ sudo rm -rf /usr/share/emacs

That’s all folk! You may now proceed to the configuration section.

Linux

Given that Linux is more or less the home os of Emacs it presents us with the most installation options. Of course, you can build Emacs from source on every distribution out there, but why bother to do so? Using the distribution’s package manager is a better idea for many reasons - you don’t need to install a build chain and lots of dev libraries, you get updated versions when they are released and you get automated dependency manager, just to name a few.

That said, few distributions include in their primary repositories builds of Emacs 24. Luckily there are some unofficial repos that come to the rescue.

Debian users should look no further than the amazing emacs-snapshot APT repo. You’ll find installation instructions there for all the relevant Debian versions out there. High quality, highly recommended builds! After you’ve added the repo you can install Emacs 24 with the following command:

Slackware users can compile and install Emacs 24 by using the following unofficial SlackBuild script: emacs.SlackBuild.

Unfortunately they don't seem to be any prebuilt Emacs 24 packages for any of the RPM distros (Fedora, SUSE, Mandriva, etc). Since, I’m Debian user I have to admit that I didn’t look that far, but the source installation is not particularly hard and is always an option.